1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buoyant recreational flotation apparatus. More particularly, this invention pertains to a board-like device adapted to accommodate the body of a recreational user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous water sports, requiring skill and offering pleasurable recreation, require equipment suitable for the joint purposes of (1) buoyantly supporting the recreational user and (2) appropriately traveling through or transversing the aquatic medium.
With the exception of boating apparatus falling generally within the above parameters, the most thrilling and skillful aquatic diversions require equipment of sufficiently simple design and compact size to permit the user to act in concert with his equipment as a unitary, maneuverable body. Representative water sports include, but are not limited to, jet skiing, surfing, water skiing and board sailing.
"Body boarding" an offshoot, or "poor cousin", of classic surfing, has experienced a significant amount of popularity. This sport requires a board-like flotation device to support a prone user as he "rides" a wave as it cascades and then breaks at a beach. The sport thus constitutes a hybrid of the classic or erect surfing and the prone and boardless body surfing experience.
While body boarding offers a pleasurable experience for the recreational user, present-day equipment principally provides flotation, lacks maneuverability and adds little to the enjoyment of boardless body surfing.